The Gold Pawn in L. A. Chandler’s second Art Deco mystery, after The Silver Gun, and continues the story of Lane Sanders.
Lane continues investigating the mystery of her parents, as well as of their deaths. To do that, she travels to Rochester to visit her childhood home. But, once there, she experiences such a powerful and negative emotion that she rushes back to New York City. A banker, Mr. Hambro, has disappeared. Fio wants Lane to look into it.
Meanwhile Finn, on assignment in Great Britain, is learning more about Rex Ruby and the Red Scroll gang.
The action bounces back and forth as both Lane and Finn piece together the dangerous mobster and the possibility of an heir to him.
Lots of fun. I admire Chandler’s ability to keep the story light and amusing while underpinning the mystery with a serious nod to Jeyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Since March is Women’s History month, I thought I would discuss the women of Bronze Age Crete. In my series, I chose to write about this advanced society from about 2600 to approximately 1100 B.C.E. where women played pivotal roles in religion, culture and possibly even the governing of the cities. (In my previous series, I had a male protagonist, a traveling weaver, because women had a much inferior role in the United States of the late 1700s. They couldn’t own property or vote and if their husbands died, their sons took on the responsibility for their care. I wrote about the Shakers extensively, however, since in that society, women were equal and shared equal power in governance of the community.)
Frescoes and artifacts unearthed portray women in positions of reverence and power, suggesting a society where gender roles were viewed differently from contemporaneous civilizations.
Religion was female-centric, with goddess worship at its core. The male figures were always pictured as smaller than a central and large female figure. Women – or priestesses – were often depicted with open arms in a gesture of divine power. I imagined them as influential figures, managing religious ceremonies and advising on state affairs.
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Although the myths about Minos and the Minotaur are what we know today, one has to remember they were told by the Classical Greeks, a very patriarchal society. On Crete, real women likely held sway in the Minoan court. Administrative records and luxurious goods designed for female use display their influence, hinting at the wealth and status women enjoyed. I previously blogged about textiles and the elaborate clothing women wore.
Archaeological findings suggest that queens may have ruled alongside kings or even independently. The opulent grave goods of priestess-queens, often buried with symbols of power, reveal the respect and reverence these women commanded. I imagined a male consort who managed administrative details, under the Queen who was also the High Priestess.
The archeology suggests women’s influence extended beyond the spiritual realm into economics and craftsmanship. The intricately designed pottery, seal stones, and frescoes feature women in prominent roles. We know the intricate textiles, woven by the women, were traded all over the Aegean.
Emerging evidence further suggests that women in Minoan society received an education. In my books, I talk about the agoge, an initiation into society. I based it on what we know of the ancient Spartans who also educated their women. They spent a year minimum in a dorm with other women before marriage and children. (Boys, we think, went into a dorm at the age of seven.)
These ancient Minoans were a progressive culture ahead of its time.
Circles of Death by Marcia Talley is the twentieth book in her Hannah Ives series.
Noel, a young friend of Hannah’s, appeals to her for help. Noel and her sister both took a DNA test and discovered that, not only are they not sisters, but they are not related at all.
Hannah uses her genealogical skills to begin tracking down relatives of Noel’s. With those relatives, they can begin finding someone who might be able to shed some light on the mystery.
At the same time, Noel and Hannah look into the poisoning of several eagles nearby and discover a farm that is using a banned pesticide. The man Hannah suspects of using that pesticide is murdered, his body floating to her dock.
The twin investigations lead to a long ago murder. Although the identity of one of the murderers is not difficult to figure out, the identity of the other was a total surprise.
I’ve read that this might be the last of the Hannah Ives mysteries. I am sorry to hear it. I so enjoy spending time with her and her family and friends.
I am fascinated by words and language. I’m not sure if that is because I’m a big reader or I became a reader and eventually an author because of it.
In any event, when I began researching the Minoans for my latest series, (In the shadow of the Bull and On the Horns of Death),
I quickly ran into the question of these old, probably the oldest, written languages. Unlike the hieroglyphics, which were finally deciphered thanks to the Rosetta Stone, Linear A and B resisted decoding.
Linear A, which was used by the Minoans, still has not been deciphered. And Linear B was not deciphered until the 1950s. An Englishman from Hertfordshire, Michael Ventris, finally succeeded, using a multi-disciplinary approach.
Tablets with this writing have been found in Knossos and Pylos, as well as other places, and was very early on recognized as the earliest form of Greek. Deciphering changed the way we understand the Aegean Bronze Age, especially the complex societal structures and the far flung trade networks. Linear B has been determined to be a very early form of Greek
I suspect when Linear A is deciphered, it will include primarily trade information but we can hope it will open a window into this exotic and still mysterious culture.
As I begin preparing for Malice Domestic, (I am moderating a panel on setting ), I read a book by a featured author. Peril in the Pool House by Judy L. Murray, is the third in the Chesapeake Bay series.
At an open house party, thrown for the announcement of Eliot Davies’ candidacy as well as a welcome to their old, thoroughly renovated house, the body of Eliot’s campaign manager is found stabbed to death in the pool house. Who could have wanted this woman dead?
Helen Morrisey, the realtor who sold Eliot and his wife the house, and sometime detective, begins to poke around. Although warned off by her off and on love interest Joe McAlister, Helen knows Eliot and Alison have sunk every penny into the house – turned into a B & B – and they’ll lose everything unless the murderer is found.
Helen is an engaging detective with an unusual Detective Club. It is an imaginary one including such luminaries as Jane Marple and Nancy Drew.
I enjoyed this so much that I will go back to the first one and read all three. Lots of fun.
I also read The Paris Mistress by Mally Becker.
This is the third of the Revolutionary War series. I have enjoyed all of them but this one is my favorite so far.
Becca, along with her mother Hannah and mother-in-law Augusta, travel to France to meet Daniel Alloway. Becca and Daniel plan to marry in France. Almost immediately, Benjamin Franklin asks Becca and Daniel to listen and report back. Franklin knows there is a spy in his household reporting to England. Reluctantly, the couple agrees.
The visit goes from bad to worse. The body of the young man, Jude Fenimore, who’d traveled to France on the same ship with Becca, is found dead on the roof of Franklin’s house. The magistrates in France refuse to allow Becca and Daniel to marry (all for frustrating bureaucratic reasons) and Daniel is attacked.
Now Daniel insists Becca, her mother and mother-in-law return home before something else happens.
I am giving away five copies of In the Shadow of the Bull on both Goodreads (sign up here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/384416-in-the-shadow-of-the-bull) and on Fresh Fiction (sign up here: https://gleam.io/iwKi2/eleanor-kuhns-march
I am celebrating the release of the second book in the series – On the Horns of Death, which will be released April 2nd. Look for another giveaway at the end of March for the second book.
Last call to attend the all online conference Murderous March on Saturday (March 9.) Yes, I will be on the first panel on Saturday morning but there are plenty of other great panels and our featured speaker : EDGAR AWARD-WINNING AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR NAOMI HIRAHARA
If you are in Suffolk, I invite you to the Mystery Festival on Saturday, March 16. All day. This is one of my favorite events. Participants have a chance to meet many different mystery writers, attend panels, and, of course, buy books. Contact them here: Telephone: 757-514-4130
L.A. Chandlar is the moderator for my Murderous March panel, The Reluctant Sleuth, on March 9. Since I will be reading all the books for my panel mates, I decided to read hers as well.
The Silver Gun.
Chandlar’s series, The Silver Gun is the first, is called the Art Deco mysteries. They take place in the late 1930’s in New York City. This is after Jimmie Walker and Tamany Hall. Fiorella LaGuardia is currently mayor and on a mission to clean up the city.
Lane has been his assistant for six months. Life is exciting as she rushes around, trying to keep up with his schedule. But then she is thrust onto the subway tracks right in front of an oncoming train. Then she realizes a gangster is following her. He doesn’t trouble to hide it, grinning at her and making threatening gestures.
What is going on? Lane had to understand her own past, and the mystery of her parents’ deaths, before she can figure out why the gangsters have targeted her.
An illicit romance with a mysterious many further complicates Lane’s life.
Gambling is one of humanity’s oldest vices. ‘Knucklebones’, an ancient term for dice (since they were made of bones), was used right up to modern times. We know that the ancient Greeks gambled with knucklebones since Homer mentions it in the Odyssey.
One of the games I’ve read about is Aphrodite’s throw which involved throwing four of these dice at the same time. It is thought that the sides of each die had a different number, like contemporary dice do. The rules have been lost in time although there are plenty of guesses.
Contemporary sources from both Ancient Greece and Rome mention gambling on the throw of a die.
Carved wooden boards for games have also been found. We know the Egyptians had games, some of them involving boards, (Hounds and Jackals) so it would not be surprising to find the Bronze Age Cretans did as well.
I must also mention that knucklebones were used for divination, again right up to modern times. ‘Casting the bones’ meant throwing them and then trying to read the future from their positions.
With tax season, and since I am redoing my kitchen, I only managed to read one book this week: The Twilight Queen by Jeri Westerson.
Jeri is the author of the medieval noir series featuring Crispin Guest. I loved that series and was sad when she called a halt to it. (Although, as a series author myself, I understand how difficult it is to write something fresh.)
The Kings Fool series takes place during the Tudor era. In this second mystery, Henry VIII is disappointed that Anne Boleyn has not produced a son and is eyeing Jane Seymour. So, it is easy to understand how dismayed Anne is when she finds a murdered man in her bed. Someone is trying to discredit her. And cuckolding the King is treason, punishably by death. The situation worsens when a ring, given her by the King, is found in the murdered man’s belongings. She asks Will Somers, the Fool, for help.
Will, and his much put upon wife Marion, investigate. Weirdly, Nicholas Padgett, one of the fool’s male lovers, also becomes involved.
I love the style these books are written in with all the appropriate slang of the era. The mystery is great and the different characters are well-drawn. My only problem is Will Somers himself. I don’t care for him and I think he treats poor Marion very poorly.Twilight Queen
As I’ve discussed in earlier posts, Artemis is one of the Gods who, it is believed, was a goddess in Bronze Age Crete and was adopted by the mainland Greeks. She remained virtually unchanged, unlike Hera who diminished from a goddess in her own right to the jealous wife of Zeus in Classical Greece.
Artemis was a virgin goddess and a goddess of the hunt, of vegetation, and of birth. Women in labor prayed to her.
In the myths of Classical Greece, Artemis was the twin sister of Apollo. (Daughter of Leto by Zeus.) And since those myths all seemed to be dark and full of cruelty, Artemis too could be cruel. She turned a young hunter, Acteon, who accidentally saw her bathing, into a stag and his own hunting dogs took him down.
In my Ancient Crete mystery series, Martis, my protagonist, is a follower of Artemis.
Coming April 24, 2024
As a devotee of Artemis, Martis plans to remain a virgin her whole life.
As part of my research, I hope to visit Ephesus where the ruins of a temple to Artemis still stand. Enormous in scale, the temple boasted a double row of columns that became a model for other Greek temples. Besides honoring Artemis, the temple also served as a place of sanctuary. Recent excavations have shown the stalls, where refuge seekers slept.
Historical note: Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoe was double-crossed and murdered on the temple steps before she could reach the safety of the temple.
